To find out more about travel in Virginia, explore these links from our 2009 Travel Guide issue:
Best Ways to Find Out More
Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau. 540/342-6025, 1-800-635-5535. Visit Website.
State Travel Information: 1-800-847-4882. Visit Website.
What They Send You: Virginia Travel Guide, map.
State Parks: 1-800-933-7275. Visit Website.
National Forests:
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests 540/265-5100. Visit Website.
National Parks:
Shenandoah National Park 540/999-2243, Visit Website
Cumberland Gap 606/248-2817, Visit Website
State Tourism Page:
http://www.virginia.org/or http://www.state.va.us/.
State B&B Association: 1-800-262-1293. Visit Website .
Mountain Weather: 540/552-0497.
Key Travel Numbers
Bath County. 1-800-628-8092, 540/839-5409. Visit Website.
Big Stone Gap. 276/523-2060.
Blue Ridge Parkway. 828/271-4779. Visit Website.
Bristol. 1-888-989-4850, 276/645-4238. Visit Website.
Charlottesville/Albemarle County. 1-877-386-1102, 434/293-6789. Visit Website.
Front Royal/Warren County. 1-800-338-2576, 540/635-5788. Visit Website.
Greater Lynchburg. 1-800-732-5821, 434/845-5966. Visit Website.
Harrisonburg-Rockingham County. 540/434-3862. Visit Website.
Lexington. 1-877-453-9822, 540/463-3777. Visit Website.
Nelson County. 434/263-7015, 1-800-282-8223. Visit Website .
Roanoke Valley. 1-800-635-5535, 540/342-6025. Visit Website.
Salem. 1-888-VASALEM, 540/375-4044. Visit Website.
Shenandoah Valley. 540/740-3132. Visit Website.
Southwest Highlands. 1-800-446-9670, 276/637-6766. Visit Website .
Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro. 1-800-332-5219, 540/332-3972. Visit Website.
Virginia Skiing. 1-800-THE SNOW. Visit Website.
Alleghany Highlands. 540/962-2178. Visit Website.
Winchester/Frederick County. 540/542-1326, 1-800-662-1360. Visit Website .
Wytheville/Wythe/Bland County. 276/223-3365. http://chamber.wytheville.com/.
Giles County. 540/921-5000. Visit Website.
Town of Appalachia. Visit Website.
Town of Pulaski. 540/994-8696. Visit Website. For more information on Calfee Park, call 540/994-8624.
Best Historic Sites and Sights
Hall of Valor Civil War Museum and New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. New Market. Guided tours, walking trails and more. 540/740-3101. Visit Website.
Hollow Hill Farm. 540/897-5786.
Paint Bank General Store. 540/897-5000.
The Depot Lodge. 540/897-6000, 1-800-970-DEPOT.
Monticello . Charlottesville. Mountaintop plantation of Thomas Jefferson includes the main house, original furnishings, gardens, Jefferson’s grave and gift shop. 434/984-9822. Visit Website.
Booker T. Washington National Monument. Hardy, near Smith Mountain Lake. Birthplace of the esteemed black leader and educator. 540/721-2094. Visit Website.
Natural Bridge. Lexington. Towers 23 stories high and spans 90 feet. 1-800-533-1410, 540/291-2121. Visit Website .
Tingler’s Mill. 540/897-5000. Where a water wheel has been grinding grain since 1783.Visit Website
Virginia ‘s Explore Park. Roanoke. A re-created Blue Ridge settlement circa 1790-1860. 1-800-842-9163, 540/427-1800. Visit Website.
Roanoke ‘s Historic District. Revitalized area featuring antique shops, galleries, boutiques. 1-800-635-5535, 540/342-6025. Visit Website .
Stonewall Jackson House. Lexington. Guided tours, museum, shop and garden at General Jackson’s pre Civil War home. 540/463-2552. Visit Website.
Michie Tavern. Charlottesville. Colonial fare in an 18th-century tavern. 434/296-7203 . Visit Website .
Theater at Lime Kiln. Lexington. Concerts and plays all summer. 540/463-7088. Visit Website .
Best Mountain Lakes
Smith Mountain Lake. 20 miles southeast of Roanoke. It has great bass fishing, as well as boating, swimming and water-skiing 1-800-676-8203. Visit Website .
Lake Moomaw. North of Covington. Camping, hiking, fishing, boating, swimming and picnicking. 540/839-2442. Visit Website.
Claytor Lake. Near Draper. This 4,500-acre lake provides boating and fishing opportunities and the state park with cabins and camping sites. 540/643-2500. Visit Website.
Homestead Inn On Claytor Lake. 540/980-6777, 1-800-676-LAKE.
Best Natural Wonders
Virginia ’s Birding and Wildlife Trails: Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries Visit Website
Glen Alton 540/552-4641. Visit Website
Claytor Lake State Park. 540/643-2500, Visit Website.
New River Trail State Park. Visit Website.
Best Ski Resorts and Winter Getaways
Wintergreen. 1-800-266-2444, 434/325-2200. Visit Website.
Massanutten. 1-800-207-MASS, 540/289-9441. Visit Website.
Bryce Resort. Basye. 1-800-821-1444, 540/856-2121. Visit Website .
The Homestead. Hot Springs. 1-800-838-1766, 540/839-1766. Visit Website.
Best Mountain Culture Museums
Museum of American Frontier Culture. Staunton. 17th- and 18th-century working farms brought from England, Germany and Northern Ireland. A 19th-century American farm, too. 540/332-7850. Visit Website .
Historic Crab Orchard Museum and Pioneer Park. Tazewell. History of Southwest Virginia. 276/988-6755. Visit Website.
Little Highland Maple Museum. Monterey. Depicts the history of maple syrup and sugaring in an open-air museum. 540/468-2550.
P. Buckley Moss Museum. Waynesboro. Displays works by this popular artist. 540/949-6473, 1-800-343-8643. Visit Website.
Woodrow Wilson Birthplace & Museum. Staunton. Restored to look as it did when President Wilson was born. 540/885-0897, 1-888-4-woodrow. Visit Website.
The Virginia Museum of Transportation. Roanoke. Salutes the age of the iron horse, when steam locomotives ruled America’s rails. 540/342-5670. Visit Website .
The Wilderness Road Regional Museum. 540/674-4835. Visit Website
Best Mountain Rivers
The New River. Twenty-two miles of the South Fork and a 4.5-mile section of the main stem in Grayson County, Va. and Alleghany County , N.C. are designated National Wild and Scenic. Canoeing and whitewater opportunities.
James River. Fishing, boating, whitewater rafting, swimming. Site of the annual riverside Festival by the James in June, featuring batteau rides, living history and more.
Shenandoah River. Near Luray. Canoeing, fishing, tubing and whitewater rafting are among the offerings. 1-800-6CANOE2. Visit Website.
Best Manmade Wonders
Mill Mountain Star. Roanoke. The world’s largest man-made star, which overlooks the Roanoke Valley, is located on the Mill Mountain Spur off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Smith Mountain Dam Visitors Center. Smith Mountain Lake. Energy exhibits, theater, computer game, overlook and picnic spots. 540/985-2587.
Humpback Bridge. Covington. The nation’s only curved-span bridge still in existence. 540/962-2178.
Best Urban Delights
Center in the Square. Roanoke. Restored 1914 warehouse in the historic downtown city market houses an art museum, science museum, history museum and performing arts theater. 540/342-5700.
Mill Mountain Zoological Park. Roanoke. Where else can you see a Siberian tiger atop a Blue Ridge Mountain? 540/343-3241. Visit Website.
Garth Newel Music Center . Warm Springs. Chamber music in a relaxed, acoustically superior environment. 540/839-5018, 1-877-558-1689. Visit Website .
>>Best Scenic Roadways: Virginia
Skyline Drive. One hundred-five-mile scenic parkway through Shenandoah National Park between Front Royal and Waynesboro. 540/999-3500.
Blue Ridge Parkway. About 217 miles of the famed 469-mile roadway make their way through Virginia between Waynesboro and the North Carolina line near Galax. 828/271-4779. Visit Website.
